Planning Task 4 : Front Cover Design

Coverlines

"Up and coming"- good coverline for a brand new music magazine. double entendre for artists.

"Meeting Martin Garrix"- "meeting" would be in smaller font to place emphasis on the artist. Have a photo of someone to model as Garrix.

"Rising Sparks"- play on the term Rising stars with an electronic twist.

Having one named artist and one ambiguous allows for anyone to be pictured in one of the covers to complete the different demographic criteria in the set brief.

Some ideas for other coverlines are:

"Aspiring artists, how to keep an audience." as a kicker and a teaser. 

"Musical madness- the greatest hits of this year."

Main Images

I will use two different models, my friends Jack B and Tamsin G, on separate covers for the "different social groups" requirement- being different genders. One picture will be taken inside and one will be outside to show different mise-en-scene. The indoor shot will be well lit on a plain background. the outdoor shot will be during the day, more towards the afternoon. The mood will be more nonchalant and serious. Front covers are head and mid shots, usually with direct address. I will follow the conventions by using these shot types in my photography.

Other Page Furniture

Puffs

 "NEW!" on first edition

"Free poster inside" on both editions. this was requested by my target audience.

Content Plugs

Names of artists. Above the masthead, or at the bottom of the page (will depend on my front cover composition. when I design it

Date and price line

Written in smaller font next to the masthead of the magazine.

Barcode

Bottom of the page, left side of the page- common place on other magazines so I will use the same area.

Planning Task Three : Masthead Design

 I have made some conceptual designs for my magazine's masthead and strapline using Adobe Photoshop.

The first masthead uses Orator Std. The first strapline uses Century.

The second masthead uses Almaz. The second strapline uses Social Media.

The third masthead uses Sitka. The third strapline uses Eras Light ITC.

While I like the formatting of the masthead and strapline in example 3, I don't think the fonts fit the identity that I am trying to create for my magazine. Similarly, example 1 looks a little bland and the lettering seems too far apart but I like the idea of putting the strapline on top of the masthead. Out of my 3 concepts I like example 2 the most- from the font to the placement of the strapline.

Planning Task Two : 60 Second Pitch

Planning Task One : Magazine Title and Strapline

 

After conducting my research, I have concluded that my target audience listen to electronic and pop music so my ideas come from this background. I think "Jitterbug" is a suitable title for my magazine. It fits the theme of music and I think it encapsulates the feeling of electronic music well.

for the strapline I tried to reference electricity directly but I ended up choosing "the eye of the musical storm." This will solidify the connection to music in my magazine through the wording, but also referencing thunder with the saying "the eye of the storm".

Research Task Nine : Target Audience Research And Analysis

 From my research, I have gathered that the most popular genres of music among my target audience are electronic and pop. My target audience enjoy a range of artists. The price point would be £4.

Reflection Point : What Have I Learned About Independent Music Magazine Websites?

 From my research into the websites of some independent music magazines, I have learned that they share their identity with the physical counterpart. 

The masthead is at the top of the homepage in the same style as on the print magazine. The websites have many pictures to accompany the typed information to keep the viewer engaged.

A common feature in these magazine websites is the inclusion of segments or features from the print magazine being displayed on the homepage of the website.

There is also ways for the companies to earn money through their websites. This could include a subscription service in which you pay to have a physical edition of your magazine delivered to the person's house. This could also be selling advertising space on the website- allowing a business to pay the magazine some money to promote their product on the website. This generates profit for the magazine.

An important aspect of the magazine is the use of hyperlinks for ease of access for the user. This allows them to navigate to a section they want to read instead of having to find it manually. This acts like a pseudo-contents page for the website. This also includes the search bar, allowing users to input key words to receive information about a given topic if the magazine has included it in their magazine.

Research Task Eight : Research Into Other Independent Music Magazine Websites